President Obama will conduct an online town hall Thursday to answer questions about the economy, the White House announced in a Tuesday blog post.

People can pose questions or rate other questions up or down via the new "Open for Questions" section of whitehouse.gov.

"America, what do you want to know about the economy?" President Obama asked in a video message. "Many of you are worried and have a lot of questions, and you want to know what your government is doing to get your economy back on track. That's why we're going to try a little something different. We're going to take advantage of the Internet to bring all of you to the White House to talk about the economy."

The White House dubbed the new section an "experiment" that will deal with other topics in the future. The first round, however, will deal with "a chief concern for all of us: the economy."

The section will be powered by Google Moderator and App Engine, according to Google.

"We think technology can be a force for greater accountability and access between citizens and their elected officials," Vic Gundrotta, vice president of engineering at Google, wrote in a blog post. "We're excited that the White House has chosen to use the power of cloud-based applications like Google Moderator and App Engine to scale the president's direct dialogue with the American people."

"One of my priorities as president is opening up the White House to the American people so folks can understand what we're up to, and have a chance to participate themselves," Obama said.

As of 11 a.m. Eastern time Wednesday morning, 12,186 people had submitted 14,287 questions and cast 440,140 votes.

"We're going to compile those questions and votes and then on Thursday, I'll be giving you some answers myself," Obama said. "This is an experiment, but it's also an exciting opportunity for me to look at a computer and get a snapshot of what Americans across the country are thinking about. This way I can get a sense of your concerns and give you some straight answers."

About the Author

Chloe Albanesius has been with PCMag.com since April 2007, most recently as Executive Editor for News and Features. Prior to that, she worked for a year covering financial IT on Wall Street for Incisive Media. From 2002 to 2005, Chloe covered technology policy for The National Journal's Technology Daily in Washington, DC. She has held internships a... See Full Bio

Get Our Best Stories!

This newsletter may contain advertising, deals, or affiliate links. Subscribing to a newsletter indicates your consent to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy. You may unsubscribe from the newsletters at any time.